


Starling

by Alisha_Nareen



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-05-03 06:57:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5281109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alisha_Nareen/pseuds/Alisha_Nareen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A chance encounter leads two lost souls to one another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a story and posting. Trying something new, I hope you like it.

Chapter 1: Happy Birthday

She blamed Curtis, though technically he was allowed to take time off. Felicity knew this, but when the system crashed she was left to deal with it alone. The only person in the company with enough skill to pull off this reboot besides herself was Curtis and at the moment he was on a beach in Corto Maltese while she was stuck in the office at 3am fixing a system issue. This is not how she planned to spend her 23rd birthday, but she’d only been working at Queen Consolidated for six months so telling her supervisor “no” was not exactly an option. It felt like a personal gift to herself when the server came back on. If she was fast she could be home before 4 and she would be able to catch a few hours of sleep before she had to be back here, to do this all over again. 

Felicity grabbed her tablet and purse and headed out the office, waving to security as she exited the building on her way to the parking garage. She had never left the office this late alone. There was that system update she worked on a few months back, but that night Curtis was along to trade wisecracks with. At first she thought her mind was playing tricks on her. It was late, the garage was empty. Of course she would hear something. Felicity stopped and looked around, there was no one. Just a few cars, spaced out along the 3rd level. Instinct told her to walk just a tad faster, she knew it was late and perhaps this feeling really was nothing but just in case. Her mini cooper was just around the turn. She dug in her purse feeling for the keys, sometimes she really wished her bag was slightly more organized. And then there it was again, it sounded like footsteps, she looked around, but still no one. Maybe just move a little faster, nearly dropping her tablet in the rush. She told herself, she was tired, alone, and it was late, she just needed a good night’s sleep. And then he grabbed her. 

Felicity’s scream was muffled by the hand over her mouth. The arm around her waist pressed into her stomach so tightly she could barely breathe as she felt herself being lifted. Panic took ever, she kicked her legs and swung her arms in every direction. Please, Please, Please, Please, Please……she couldn’t think, what was happening? The sound of her tablet hitting the pavement pulled her back into the moment just in time to brace herself against the impact of hitting wall she was shoved into. And then she felt the cold steel against her neck. 

“If you scream, I’ll kill you”. It was a whisper but it wrung in her ears as if he was yelling. He smelled like alcohol and sweat; she had to stop the gag rising in her throat. Slowly he turned her. “You’re pretty…….I usually don’t go for the glasses thing” She could feel his hand under her skirt, on her thigh, cold, rough. And that’s when it hit her. This was real, this was happening. He was running his hand slowing up her body. Then he was kissing her. The first tear slid down her cheek as she felt his hand grab her breast. 

“Please…..please just let me go” she cried. She could barely get the words out. 

“You smell good” His response felt much like the knife he held against her skin, cold and unfeeling. He pushed himself against her as he fumbled with his belt, the hand holding the knife let up just a little in his haste. Just enough. And then she was fighting him. 

Her knee to his groin caused him to back up, enough for her to swing, connecting with the right side of his face. She’s not that strong but it got him off her, so that she could run. She did not get that far before she felt her head yank back as he grabbed her ponytail. She turned swinging her elbow as hard as she could, unsure where she connected, but they both hit the pavement, hard. She pulled her pump off her left foot and jammed it into the hand reaching for her as hard as she could, and then she was running again, kicking off her other heel as she went. Screaming, crying, and refusing to look back. She pulled the exit door open and ran smack into someone. In surprise she pulled away, but strong hands gripped her arms holding her in place. Some part of her recognized the person holding onto her as Oliver Queen. 

“Hey, hey” Oliver looked down at the small blonde he suddenly found in his arms. 

“He tried to rape me” she cried burying her face in his chest. Oliver wrapped his arms around her trying to comprehend what she was saying through her sobs. He looked around at the garage, it was empty. In the distance he could see her bag and other items discarded on the ground. 

“Hey, I got you.” Not sure what else to say, so he held her. 

She was not sure how much time had passed, but slowly she felt herself becoming calm. She pulled back looking up and that’s when it hit her. She was standing in the doorway clinging to, well her boss. “I’m sorry………Mr.…..Queen……I…..”

“Are you alright?” Oliver noted that while she was no longer shaking and looked considerably calmer, tears still freely ran down her face. He also noted that not once did she wipe them away. Her shirt was ripped open exposing her white bra, she had droplets of blood flowing from a small cut on her neck. He took everything in him not to reach out to her. 

“I…I’m fine” 

“What happened?”

“Someone grabbed me, he” and she couldn’t get any further without falling apart, so she stopped. “I’m sorry.” She pulled away and turned back towards the direction she came from, but should could not make herself move. She could see her things, the contents of her purse were spread along the far right garage wall. She could only locate one of her shoes, her tablet, but for the life of her she could not force herself to move in that direction. 

“I got it” Oliver slowly pushed past her, picking up discarded items as he went. He looked back at her every few steps, some part him uneasy, apprehensive to leave her, though he was not going far. He reasoned it was because she looked so fragile, almost like a child holding her shirt closed with one hand as the other was balled in a tight fist. He absently noted that while he did not know her name, he had seen her around the office a few times. And then a part of him wondered what would have happened to her if he had not left his phone in the office? What would have happened if he did not hear her scream? 

Felicity noted she had never been in the CEO’s office before, though she’d walked past a few times. It was bigger than it looked from the outside. Also colder, but she reasoned that probably had more to do with the fact that her bare feet were touching the cold cement floor beneath the leather seat she sitting on. She watched as Oliver came into the office, cup in hand, followed by two uniformed security guards, both notably shorter and in considerable worse shape than the CEO. There was a uniformed police officer leaning against the glass wall with his arms folded and a tall intimidating black man right outside the door staring in the direction of the elevators. Felicity watched the man who identified himself as Detective Lance as he wrote something on a small notepad. Oliver kneeled in front of her handing her the warm mug. “Felicity right?” it wasn’t quite a question. “Drink this, it will make you feel better.” He paused as if waiting for something. Felicity figured he was waiting for her to taste the contents of the mug, so she took a hesitant sip. “Do you have any more questions Detective?” 

“That’s all for now Mr. Queen” his tone suggesting he was not on friendly terms with Oliver Queen. “She is refusing to come down to the station so there is not much else we can do.”

“I didn’t really see him, everything happened really fast, I just…I just want to forget it.” What she really wanted was for this night to end. 

“You’re sure?” Oliver was staring intently at her. 

“Yeah”

“Dig” Oliver called to the man standing guard outside the door. “This is John Diggle, he is going to take you to my car.” Before she could get her protest fully formed he continued. 

“At least let me take you home.” Felicity nodded and followed the man named John Diggle out the door. As she stepped into the elevator she took in her appearance. She had a small cut on her bottom lip that she could barely feel and her blonde hair hung loose, partially hiding the bandage over the cut on her neck. She was wearing a sweater Oliver had given her that was about four sizes too big, the sleeves were rolled up but it hung just shy of the skirt she wore underneath and there was a bandage over her left knee. In her hands she held her purse and black pumps, the hill was broke on one. For some reason looking at her reflection caused a small laugh to escape her lips. Looking up at John Diggle she said “Today is my birthday.” The elevator door opened and she exited without another word.


	2. Return to Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity has her first day back at work after the attack.

It was a full week before Felicity could bring herself to go back to Queen Consolidated. She reasoned if she pushed it off any longer, she would never be able to do it. She told her supervisor she had the flu. She was not quite sure he believed her but he did not give her a hard time about so she figured it did not matter. As luck would have it, her first day back was also Curtis’ first day back from his Corto Maltese trip. He was the first face she saw as she arrived at her cubicle, and he immediately went into a long story about a sea turtle he rescued with his husband. She could have kissed him, within five minutes all her apprehension about being back at work was gone. In its place was the stress of a week’s worth overdue tickets she had to address. Turns out the having both your IT specialists out of the office at the same time can cause a lot of issues. The morning flew by fairly quickly as they worked to clear the back log which had built up in their absence. So much so she did not realize she skipped lunch until she received a call from Angela, the CEO’s executive assistant summoning her the executive floor.

As soon as she stepped off the elevator she became nervous. She had not spoken to Oliver, no Mr. Queen, since he dropped her off the night of the attack. She was not sure what to expect, not even sure why she was called to his office. Angela had her back to the door when Felicity entered the office, she was talking on the phone to someone and while the conversation was professional, she was clearly flirting with the person on the other end. It felt weird to just listen to the conversation, but short of banging on the desk she was not sure what could be done about it. It took nearly a minute for Angela to notice Felicity standing there. “Alex, I have to go.” She said abruptly ending the call. “Can I help you with something?”

“I was told to report to Mr. Queen’s office, my name is Felicity Smoak.”

“Oh well Mr. Queen had to step out for a few minutes but he said you can just wait in his office for him, he should be right back.” Her tone was just shy of snarky.

“Okay.” Not sure how to react, Felicity reasoned it was just better to move on. She entered the CEO’s office for the second time, and she sat down on the same small leather seat. Turns out Oliver’s few minutes was anything but. After a half hour Felicity figured she should probably get back to work. Just as she decided to leave Angela appeared in the doorway.

“Mr. Queen said he is sorry it is taking longer than expected but he will be back as soon as he can.”

“I think maybe I should go back to my office.”

“Mr. Queen asked that you wait for him” Angela turned as if she was leaving and then must have changed her mind. “So how do you know him?”

“Excuse me?”

“Well I mean I’ve never seen you here before, he clearly did not call you in here to fix his computer, he barely opens that thing, and you’re not exactly his type, so I was just wondering….how do you know him?”

“I don’t know him, not really. We met once.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. “I have no idea why I am here.”

Angela did not appear to believe her but she took a seat back behind her desk and picked up the phone again. 

Since this was clearing going to take a while Felicity pulled out her phone and began to text her roommate Caitlin.

_Felicity: You’re not going to believe where I am right now_

_Caitlin: Where???_

_Felicity: Oliver Queen’s office_

_Caitlin: The plot thickens **:)**_ _  
_

 

Felicity was not sure how long she sat texting Caitlin when suddenly…

“Hey” His voice caused her to jump.

“Don’t you knock?”

“Felicity this is my office.” A hint of a smile on his lips as he said it.

“Oh yeah right, Hi.”

“Sorry you had to wait long, I had to make an unexpected detour”

“Not a problem.” Felicity found herself staring into his eyes, were they always this intense.

“I hear you have been out for a week, how are you feeling?”

“Good, just needed a few days.” Had he been checking up on her?

“So I bet you’re wondering why I called you in here.”

“A little.”

“Well if you don’t already know I am about to open a new Club in the Glades and I need to get the system up and running.  I was thinking that since….”

“I’m your girl.” She said cutting him off. And then realizing how that must sound continued. “I am mean I’m not your girl, I…..I wasn’t making a pass at you” Oh shoot me now, she thought.

“Felicity…” He had to stop the laugh he could feel building within him. “I am going to be heading over there shortly so if you don’t mind would you come along?”

“Yeah, sure, I just need to grab a few things.” She jumped up quickly from her seat and in her rush stumbled, losing her balance. Oliver reached out to catch her right as she was about to knock over the lamp on the side table.

“You okay?”

“Yup just fine” and embarrassed, she thought.

Apparently Diggle was a Jazz man, as he played soft Jazz on the radio for the full 20 minute car ride. The ride to the club was awkward at best. Oliver sat quietly next to her staring out the window. She attempted small talk at first asking about club and his partner, but after the third one word answer she decided maybe quiet was what he wanted. The club was deep in the Glades, an old abandoned warehouse that he had renovated. They were met at the entrance by Tommy Merlyn, while Oliver was quiet and reserved, Merlyn was anything but.  As soon as they were introduced her placed his arm around her shoulders and led her through the building showing off the design he was certainly proud of. After about 15 minutes of Merlyn’s specialty tour Oliver came to “rescue” her. He showed her to the offices so she could start setting up. She did not see him again until her task was complete.

“Everything is set up for you. I also linked the security cameras to the computer in your office, it’s just better that way, but I noticed the way they are situated leaves a blind spot near the side entrance, you may want to look into getting something to cover that.” From his confused expression Felicity figured maybe she needed to explain that last comment. “I found the renovation plans and looked at the layout of the building. Just wanted to make sure everything was covered since I was checking the security system”

“Are you always this noisy?” Oliver asked, when he left her in the office he figured she would just get the internet working on the computers, he never imagined she would link the security system. He noted he would have to be more careful around her in the future before she discovered things he wanted kept secret.

“Just thorough.”

“Okay, anything else?”

“Did I do something wrong?” His tone suggested that he was at the least irritated, which she could not understand.

“No.” He studied her for a moment before continuing. “It looks like we’re going to be here for a while, Tommy had to go so we need to wait for a delivery. I thought I would order something for dinner, anything particular you want?”

Felicity looked at the time on her phone. It was much later than she expected and she was hungry “I could go for some Big Belly Burger.” She replied before she really thought it through.

It was nearly 10 pm by the time they left the Club. Oliver’s mood continued to be prickly but Diggle was much less intimidating than she originally imagined. They passed the time playing poker. You would think growing up in Vegas would make Felicity a better poker player. It was a good thing they were playing for French fries instead of actual money. Oliver insisted on taking her home instead of back to the office to pick up her car. Absently Felicity noted that the ride to her house was very reminiscent to the last time took her home. When the car stopped he silently walked her to the door, waited as she fought with her temperamental lock and walked away without saying goodbye.

The next morning she was barely at her station an hour before she was summoned to the executive floor. “Again?” Curtis looked as confused as she did.

“Just tell Jerry for me, I don’t want him to think I am slacking off.” Felicity said as she walked by. She was greeted at the elevator by Angela. In her hand there was a stack of papers and a laptop.

“These are for you.” She said handing everything over. “Mr. Queen is in a meeting but he said you can work on these in the conference room next door.” Angela talked as she walked, expecting Felicity to follow along.

“What is all of this?”

“Not sure, there’s a note on top.” Angela stopped just outside the conference room. A final “have fun” and then she was gone. Felicity noticed as she began to set up that she could see directly into Oliver’s office from the conference room. Oliver was meeting with three men, all seated as he leaned with his back against the window. For some reason Felicity felt the urge to wave and did so before she could stop herself. Oliver could clearly see her, but chose not to acknowledge her. Felicity pulled the yellow sticky note off the top of the papers she had been given.

_Start by reading this over, will explain everything soon. OQ_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments. I was a little nervous to post so hearing the feedback made me feel a little better.


	3. The New Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity finds herself spending a lot of time with Oliver.

From the documents provided, it appeared Felicity was tasked with creating a new locator system. More specifically computer software that would be used to track and report internet activity, traffic and mentions of and by particular people, so really undetectable spyware. The strangest thing to Felicity is why she was tasked with this and not someone higher in the ranks. While she was sure she could build the program it just seemed weird to trust someone new to the company with this kind of project. For a brief moment Felicity allowed herself to ponder the legality of the project but then there was always the possibility it could be for a government contract she did not know about. Felicity decided to put her questions on hold until she had more information, also it was probably not the best career move to question the motives of the CEO. At least the project was more interesting than answering simple IT tickets whenever the less tech savvy saved a report in the wrong location. 

Felicity was so distracted by the task she was given that she did not notice Oliver enter the conference room an hour later. He did not immediately make himself known, instead just watched as she worked. On some level Oliver knew her presence had much more to do with his piece of mind than any IT help he happened to need. She was awkward, talked entirely too much, and was too curious for her own good, but she was also cute and sweet and genuine which made the idea of her very appealing to him, whether that was a good thing or not. With the exception of John, everyone in his life wanted something from him, everyone had an angle to play. It felt good to be with someone he would let his guard down with, if only slightly. He also suspected that her run in with the attacker a few weeks back was not entirely coincidental and that made him nervous.   
“I am thinking about getting Thai for lunch, what do you think?” he asked.   
The sound of his voice startled her, causing her to knock over the cup of coffee she had been sipping on. “Oh” she gasped, jumping up to grab napkins from a nearby table. “That sounds good for you I guess...” she said as she used a handful of napkins to soak up the coffee before it could run off the table. “I tend to stay away from Thai as they use peanuts in a lot of the food and I’m allergic”. She felt herself begin to babble and tried to shut it off before it got away from her which was a definite possibility.   
“No Thai then, any suggestions?”  
“I don’t know anything else is fine, I would say Big Belly Burger but we had that last night. It’s funny that every time I am with you, you offer me food. What’s that about? I mean…”  
“Felicity” Upon hearing her name she looked up at him. Something told Oliver if he let this go on any further they would never eat. “How about we go down to the Waterfront and decide what looks best.”   
“We can just order in, we don’t have to go anywhere” She said before she would stop herself.   
“Grab your coat, I’ll have Dig bring the car around.”   
Again the car ride was uncomfortable. Oliver spent the entire ride looking down at his phone while Felicity made small talk with Diggle. Physically Diggle was the much more intimidating presence but Oliver’s personality was brusque. They pulled in front of a small Italian restaurant.   
“I have some business to take care of here, so I figured this is as good a place as any” Oliver spoke as he exited the car, not looking in her direction. Diggle offered Felicity his hand as she exited the car.   
“Did I do something wrong?” she whispered. A slight smile tugged at Diggle’s lips but he did not respond. A few moments later they were seated at a table near the back of the restaurant, a beautiful waitress stood flirting with Oliver as she took their order. He ordered without looking at the menu, so when the waitress turned to Felicity, she was unprepared. Hastily she ordered the first Italian dish that came to mind, Fettuccine. It was not until the waitress was gone that she thought how much she doesn’t really like that dish. They sat in silence for a few moments before Felicity decided she had to say something or this was going to be a very long meal.   
“So it’s true you spent five years alone on a deserted island” She groaned as soon as the words left her mouth.   
A chuckle, small smile and then “do you understand what I want you to build”  
“Yeah…..I mean it seems like some kind of tracking system.” Just moving right past that island subject. “It can be done, I just need to create the right algorithm.”  
“How long?  
“I don’t know, it could take a day or three months, it’s all about the formula. Once I get Curtis to look…”  
“No” he said cutting her off. “No one else, unless you can’t do it?”  
“I can do it, just…… may take some time”  
Felicity was relieved when he excused himself to go to the rest room. She was both wildly intimidated but strangely attracted to him at the same time. She needed a few moments alone to get her thoughts together. This was her boss who had comforted her during one of the worst moments of her life, who she was now spending a lot of time with, but also someone who while occasionally amused by her, appeared to also dislike her. They ate as Oliver explained in more detail exactly what he thought the program should be able to do. Felicity took a few notes in between bites and before long they were headed back to the office, quiet car ride and all. For the rest of the week, things stayed fairly consistent, in the mornings she found herself working on the algorithm in the executive conference room, then lunch with said executive, and most nights a ride home, wanted or not. And in all the time spent together, she knew no more about him than she did before. They rarely talked about anything besides work, for the most part he ignored her, just to her face. So it was strange on that following Tuesday when she arrived at her cubicle with a note saying she no longer needed to report to the CEO’s office, once she had completed the project she could just drop the drive off with his secretary. Felicity wasn’t sure how to feel, a mixture of rejection and relief settled within her. 

Three weeks passed with no contact and then suddenly…”Felicity, hey they said you’d be up here”  
He looked strange, leaning slightly on Diggle. “You look like something the cat dragged in, not that there are cats in this building, well once a cat did get in but a guard tased it, it smelt like fur and static in here for like a week” Looking like he was struggling to stay on his feet he replied.   
“I have a little bit of a hangover”  
“Sounds like you need a bloody Mary and a pretzel, not the IT department”  
“Actually my buddy Kevin is starting an energy drink company. He said it’s fantastic for curing hangovers, but I am very particular about what it is I put in my body”  
“I’ve noticed…I said not noticed right” shoot me now, she thought.   
Barely controlling a chuckle “I’m trying to find a secret recipe could you please do a spectral analysis of the sample and find out exactly where in the city it is made?”  
“If it’s an energy drink why is it in a syringe?” she asked taking the sample from him.   
“I ran out of sports bottles” and with that last quip Diggle shook his head and walked towards the elevators.   
Her encounters with Oliver became this strange routine, every now and then he would appear in front of her wanting some assistance, there were arrows and laptops with bullet holes, sometimes just a strange internet search. He always offered up some convoluted excuse for needing said information, none of them seemed plausible, but Felicity didn’t mind. She liked puzzles and she liked her little run ins with the CEO. Between her personal encounters with him and the articles she read about him in the tabloids, if nothing else Oliver Queen was a very interesting person. When Caitlin decided they needed a ladies night out, Felicity thought the best place might be Quiver, Oliver and Merlin’s new club.


	4. Verdant

They had been standing in line for about thirty minutes discussing if they should give up trying to get in when a black Maserati bulled up next to them. The back window rolled down and Tommy Merlin stuck his head out. “Felicity what are you doing?”  
“We thought girl’s night out at the hottest club in Starling was a good idea” she exclaimed. Caitlin nudged her towards the car “get us in” she whispered.  
“Obviously” he said as he opened the car door. “Who’s your friends?”  
“This is my roommate Caitlin and my girlfriends Mari and Iris, their visiting from Central City…ladies this is Tommy Merlin, this is his club”  
“Nice to meet you ladies, follow me, there’s no need to stand on this line”  
Tommy put Felicity’s name on the VIP list, anticipating she would make this a frequent hangout. He thanked her again for the tech help, ordered them a round of drinks and moved on to flirt with a short brunette in a bright gold dress. Her friends discovering she had an in with Tommy Merlin was the surprise of the century as far as they were concerned. “Why didn’t you tell me you know Tommy Merlin, I feel like you have been holding out” Caitlin exclaimed as she sipped on her cocktail.  
“I told you that I was working with Oliver Queen, they’re best friends so we met once”  
“You know the Queens too, when did this happen” Mari moved her seat closer as she spoke. “And how close are you if you’re meeting his friend”  
“It’s not like that, Oliver is my boss”  
“Let’s not pretend like Felicity is in some illicit affair, as if we don’t know her” Iris jumped in “No offense babe, but the idea of you and Oliver Queen”  
“Exactly.” Felicity grabbed Mari by the arm and pulled her towards the dance floor, “let’s just be happy my nerdy skills got us off that line.”  
Two hours and about five drinks later a very drunk Felicity leaned against the bar watching Caitlin and Iris dance as she waited for another vodka tonic. She swayed lightly to the beat anticipating joining her friends when she felt a hand on her lower back. The interaction startled her and she turned ready to unload on the offender only to be confronted with a grinning Oliver Queen. “Tommy said you were here, I thought he was lying” Oliver looked her up and down slowly taking in her appearance. She wore a blue silk tank top and black leather shorts, the whole outfit was a tad more revealing than he would have liked. Her stiletto heels made her seem taller than he knew she was, her hair was pulled in a bun at the top of her head and for once she was without her black rimmed glasses. He found the look both immensely appealing and off-putting.  
“Ollie….Oliver…Mr. Queen”  
“All Me”  
“This place is amazing, you DJ is so good.” She was leaning into him, swaying to the music with her left hand on his shoulder. Her words were slurred, he could smell the alcohol on her breathe and there was a faint peach like aroma. The entire scene brought a smile to his lips. As much as he did not want to admit it, he was very drawn to this woman. “You’re having fun I see”  
“Vodka tonic”  
Felicity turned towards the bartender, picked up the drink and downed it without hesitation. Oliver waved the bartender off. “Dance with me” she slammed the cup on the bar and grabbed Oliver’s hand intending to pull him towards the dance floor where Mari had just joined Iris and Caitlin. Felicity took about two steps when she was pulled back in the direction of the bar. “I don’t dance”.  
There was a small pout, a shoulder shrug, she let go of her grip on his hand and quickly backed away from him arms up over her head. “Your loss buddy”. She turned a bit too quickly stumbled into a nearby chain and just as she was about to fall Oliver reached for her. Drunk Felicity is really entertaining he thought as he pulled her into his arms.  
“Steady”  
“I’m fine, thank you.”  
“How much did you have to drink?”  
“I’m not drunk....” She was beginning to feel dizzy, “maybe a little”. She felt a wave a nausea grabbed Oliver’s arm to steady herself and then rushed to the trash can next to the bar. Oliver pulled her hair back and rubbed her back as she vomited. The look of horror on her face when she came up for air cause a chuckle to escape Oliver lips before he could stop himself. “I’m so sorry”  
“Felicity are you okay” Iris came rushing over, pushing Oliver out of the way in her attempt to get to her friend. Felicity groaned and sank to the floor next to the bar.  
“I don’t feel well” she whined, closing her eyes.  
Iris attempted to lift her back up all the while explaining that she warned her not to drink any more. After watching Iris unsuccessfully for about a minute Oliver bent down and lifted Felicity in his arms. Iris started to protest. “She works for me.” He said quickly. “There is an office at the end of the hall by the restrooms. Why don’t you get your other friends and meet us there.”  
Iris starred at Oliver surprised perhaps because she recognized him for the tabloids and then rushed off in the direction of the dance floor. Felicity was clinging to him, face snuggled into his neck as he carried her though the crowded club and down the hall to his office. He could hear her whispering her apologies as he went. “What am I going to do with you?” He whispered almost to himself.  
Diggle appeared seemingly out of nowhere in time to open the door as they reached it. “We don’t have time for this Oliver” he sounded annoyed.  
“I know”  
“This is not a good idea, we should be on our way already. We don’t have that much time to get this done if you want to do this tonight”  
“Get everything ready, I am right behind you”  
Caitlin, Iris, and Mari rushed in the room just then. Mari paused slightly to admire Diggle and then proceeded into the room with her friends. In an instant Diggle was gone and Oliver’s attention was back on Felicity. She was laying across the sofa in his office, eyes closed, heels kicked off with her three friends surrounding her.  
“We got her, we can take her home thanks”, Caitlin held her hand out to Oliver. Instead of taking it Oliver turned and walked over to the desk, he picked his up his cell. “Roy, I need you to bring the truck around, please take Mrs. Smoak and her friends home.” He listened for a moment and then placed the cell in his back pocket. “My driver will take you anywhere you need to go. None of you look like you are in any condition to drive.” Oliver walked over to the sofa and kneeled next to Felicity. Whispering in her ear, “this was fun, goodnight Smoak.” He made his way towards the door and in passing said “I am late for an appointment, nice to meet you ladies.” And then he was gone.  
The interest in Felicity’s relationship with the younger Queen skyrocketed following that short encounter. Felicity spent most of Saturday hungover and fending off questions from her friends about her “business” relationship with the CEO. To make matters worse, there was a photo of Oliver carrying a very drunk Felicity Smoak circulating through all of the tabloid sites speculating about their “relationship”. The only solace was the dim lighting of the photograph made it nearly impossible identify her, just another unknown blonde having a fling with the notorious playboy.  
Felicity was summoned to the executive offices the following Monday morning. Oliver was finishing a call as she arrived. “I wanted to apologize, I was pressed for time and was more than a little rude to your friends. Though Roy told me you were fine by the time he dropped you off home”  
Felicity was taken aback. “I really should be the one apologizing. I don’t usually drink so much. Sorry if I ruined your night”  
“I need you to look someone up for me.”  
“I should add personal internet researcher for Oliver Queen to my job title…..happily I mean”  
“His name is Derek Reston, we were close before I went away and I want to get back in touch”.  
“I guess you didn’t have Facebook on the Island, may I use this?” Felicity Opened Oliver’s laptop. “There’s not much here that’s recent. No credit activity, no utility bills. I guess you guys must have met at the factory”  
Oliver looked confused, “Wait what factory?”  
“The Queen Steel factory” Felicity said adjusting her glasses. “Derek Reston worked there for 15 years until it shut down in ’07”  
“Derek Reston worked for my father”  
“You weren’t really close friends huh” Felicity figured they were just moving on from the incident that happened on Friday. Felicity pulled the information for Oliver and then went on with her day as if nothing had changed. She ended up staying in the office late working on a project Jerry wanted completed by the following morning. By the time she was done it was after midnight. She did not mean to stay that late. She felt uneasy going into the garage along this late again and decided she would ask one of the security guards to walk with her this time. She was in the lobby talking to Dan when Oliver happened upon them. He had an annoyed look on his face as he approached.

“What are you still doing here?”

“I was finishing up a project”

“Dan, I can walk Mrs. Smoak to her car, no need to leave your post”

Felicity was tired and Oliver was not much of a talker, she did not notice until she turned to say goodbye that he was angry. “What’s wrong?”

“Self-preservation is pretty low on your priorities list I see”

“What’s that supposed to mean”

“It’s after midnight and you’re here……alone……again.”

“I know, I didn’t mean to”

“How is that an excuse? First Friday and now this”

“What…..how is that even relevant to this conversation?”

“You passed out drunk in a club a few days ago. You keep putting yourself in harm’s way.”

“People get drunk Oliver, it’s not that big a deal, I am a big girl, I can take care of myself.”

“That’s beside the point.”

“I was with my friends, it’s not like I asked for your help.” The argument was over just as quickly as it had begun, no provocation or resolution. 

Oliver knew that he was overacting but he was having a hard time controlling his temper. In fact he had a hard time controlling any of his emotions when he was with Felicity. Diggle was right, the best thing he could do was leave Felicity out of his life. The problem was he felt protective of her, more than he should. Oliver debated calling Felicity to apologize for blowing up at her, maybe a text, or a note on her desk. How he ended up outside her place the next morning was somewhat of a mystery to him.


	5. Why are you here?

The last thing Felicity expected to arrive on her doorstep at 7 am was Oliver Queen. She was still ticked about the unnecessary argument she was pulled into the night before. On some level she loved that Oliver cared enough about her well-being to be upset but the other larger part of her did not like the implication that she could not take care of herself.  
“Can I come in?”  
“I guess” The petty part of Felicity wanted to tell him to go away. “I was just making some coffee do you want any?”  
Oliver followed Felicity into the kitchen without saying a word. He did not have a game plan for this moment. He had not intended to show up at Felicity’s house let alone invite himself in. The only thing he did know was that he wanted to continue whatever this interaction with them was. Oliver took a seat at the small table in the nook of the kitchen and watched as Felicity moved around the Kitchen. He was losing the battle to remain neutral when it came to the blonde.  
“Black?” Felicity placed the cup in front of Oliver and sat across from him. “What are you doing here?” She asked finally.  
“I did not like how we left it last night” Oliver paused expecting Felicity to say something but when she didn’t he continued, “I was just surprised to see you and my temper got away from me”  
“Is this your way of apologizing?”  
“Not really…..I am not sorry about what I said, you take a lot of risks that I don’t understand.”  
“Did you come her to lecture me?” A small chuckle escaped her.  
“No…..I just……I think you should make better choices.” This was getting away from him, his intention was to smooth things over with Felicity but the moment he opened his mouth that all changed. He was still angry that after she had been attacked she put herself right back in the same situation. “You should think about the vulnerable situations you put yourself in, anything can happen when your guard is down. I shouldn’t have to tell you this.”  
“This is unbelievable, people work late Oliver….normal people hang out with their friends.”  
“Felicity.”  
“I get it, I should not walk through the parking garage alone in the middle of the night but as you should have noticed I was not doing that……….no I don’t have to explain myself to you.”  
“Felicity I don’t want to argue, that’s not why I came here”  
“Then why did you come here, just to ruin my morning?”  
“I should go, this was a bad idea”  
Felicity reached the door just ahead of Oliver and as she pulled it open she could feel him at her back. Oliver pushed the door as she pulled causing the door to slam. She turned and found herself, back pressed against the door, in the middle of his outstretched arms, one at each side of her. “I did not come here to argue” he whispered.  
“Then why did you come here?” She could barely get the words out, they came out almost inaudible. And before she could gather herself he kissed her. The kiss was soft but demanding and after her initial surprise she allowed herself to melt into it, He slowly pulled back, hands still holding her face as he stared into her eyes for a long moment and without saying a word he pulled the door open and left.  
There was a potted orchid on Felicity’s desk when she arrived at work, no note but she instinctively knew who they were from. Felicity had replayed the events of the morning in her head countless times on the way to work. He ran so hot and cold with her that she was not sure how she should process it. This was Oliver Queen after all, she knew his history with women very well as it was fully documented. He clearly felt something for her, clearly he was attracted to her, but was that all.  
“Dating someone you forgot to tell me about?” Curtis leaned over his cubicle wall holding out a cup of coffee.  
“Double shot?”  
“Of course, I’m not monster. Now spill, who is prince charming?  
“If he turns out not to be a toad, I will tell you”  
Despite the flowers she had received like clockwork every Tuesday morning Felicity did not see much of Oliver over the next few weeks. Most of the information she got about him was from the news and tabloids. His mother had been shot in what appeared to be an attempted assassination attempt on millionaire Frank Bertinelli and though she was okay there was both increased security at Queen Consolidated and increased media attention. Felicity texted Oliver to make sure he was okay, but his response was muted. Shortly after there were pictures of Oliver out at dinner with Helena Berttinelli, less than two weeks later he appeared to be dating Laurel Lance again as pictures surfaced of them. Felicity could not stop herself from feeling a little hurt every time she was confronted with images of Oliver on a date. She had to keep reminding herself that they were not dating and he never really made her think they were. Felicity threw herself into work to keep her mind off her non-relationship with the CEO, she knew she had to get over her feelings and it always worked better when she had something to focus on. “Someone got a picture of him!” Curtis was excited, Felicity could tell.  
“A picture of who?”  
“The Hood.” Felicity was almost convinced the masked vigilante was myth, something people made up to feel better about how dangerous the city had become. There were accounts of people being saved by a masked vigilante with a bow but there were just as many stories about rich business men being targeted. He seemed to be everything for everyone and the likelihood the person really existed was really low. Curtis pulled the picture up on his phone to show it to Felicity. The picture was dark and far away, the only thing clear was a hood and a bow. Regardless of the quality, it was the first concrete sign the Hood existed and Felicity was fascinated. “The news is saying an arrest warrant has been issued, now that there are clear signs he really exist” Curtis continued. Felicity had a hard time focusing’ on work the rest of the day. She pulled up every mention of the Hood from news accounts and twitter she could find. Over the next few days Felicity began to build a profile of the Hood, weighing the accounts of people that had been saved as well as a number of the Hood’s target’s had turned out to have shady dealings Felicity was comfortable determining that he was more hero than anything else. His tactics may have been questionable but he was working to improve the city. The results did not always justify the means, but there were levels to this.


	6. Queen Christmas Party

Felicity was surprised to find an invitation to the Queen Christmas party on her desk when she arrived at work a few weeks later. She had not spoken to or run into Oliver in weeks, much of her time was spent trying to track down this mysterious vigilante. Making things more complicated was there appeared to be a copycat archer running around the city killing people. At first felicity believed the murderer was the Hood, but she was now confident after researching crime scene photos and police reports she obtained after hacking the police department that there were two archers running around the city. Needless to say Felicity’s love life was not a hot topic at the moment and showing up at Queens’ mansion alone was not all that appealing. Oliver seemed to have settled back into a secure relationship with Laurel Lance and as much as she was over him, she did not want to spend her evening watching the happy couple. 

Felicity was engrossed in an article on her tablet when she literally walked into Tommy Merlin on her way to the elevator a few hours later. She apologized three times before she realized how she bumped into.   
“Hey Smoak, don’t tell me that tablet is more interesting than me” he exclaimed.   
“Tommy what are you doing here?”   
“Was hoping to catch lunch with Oliver, but it seems he has wall to wall meetings today so it appears I am without a lunch partner”  
“I know the feeling”  
“What about you, you can be my partner”  
“I don’t think that is appropriate, I mean I work for your best friend”  
“Lunch partner Felicity” he said with a chuckle.   
“Of course I can do lunch, anything but Big Belly Burger, already had it twice this week”

Lunch with Tommy Merlin turned out to be great, much to Felicity’s surprise. She always thought of him as just a playboy, which to be fair was a pretty accurate description of him, but he was fairly easy to talk to and if she was honest easy to look at. Merlin was walking Felicity back to the elevator when the conversation veered to the Queen Christmas party.   
“The Queens have not had a Christmas party in years, I guess now that Oliver is back they are restarting the tradition.” Tommy explained.   
“I don’t think I am going to go, seems like it is a bit too formal for my taste”  
“Nonsense, I am about as informal as anyone and I have to show up to this thing, why don’t you come as my date”  
Felicity thought she must be hearing things, was Tommy Merlin asking her out on a date. “Like a date date?” she asked flustered.   
“Yeah, why not, it’s not like you and Oliver are a thing, we could go, drink some champagne, have a good time, and if we still just want to be friends at least we make it through the party together. What do you say?”  
“Okay” Tommy was right, she and Oliver were not a thing, there was nothing wrong with going out with his best friend after all he introduced them. Also Felicity deserved to have some fun and for Tommy Merlin fun was his specialty. 

Caitlin was ecstatic Felicity was going out with Tommy Merlin, she said Felicity needed a little adventure injected into her daily routine and managed to talk Felicity into wearing a gold number that was very much outside her comfort zone. The double take Tommy made when he picked her up told Felicity she had made the right choice. Felicity had never been a Maserati before, her initial jitters were quickly overshadowed. For some reason the closer they got to Queen mansion, the more unsure she was about going. Tommy passed the time talking about a new DJ they hired for Saturday nights, apparently the guy was a legend in Europe and they were getting him for a steal. By the time they pulled up to the party Felicity was using all of her strength to hold herself in check, she did not understand why she was so nervous, but then the last real contact she had with Oliver Queen he was kissing her and now she was about to come into his home as the date of his best friend.   
Felicity jumped when she felt Tommy’s hand on her lower back. “Relax Felicity” he whispered “it’s just a party”  
Felicity grabbed the first glass of champagne she saw once they entered the ballroom and downed it immediately. If she could not get through this party being brave, she would get through it drunk. Tommy smiled and replaced her empty glass with a full one. “I see how you roll, I like it” he said laughing. Felicity was not looking where she was going when she tripped and was steadied by a man standing near the dance floor. He whispered “careful” in her ear, leaning in a little too close and immediately Felicity felt uneasy. Then Tommy was next to her, guiding her toward a group of people she did not know and the moment passed. 

They had managed to talk to quite a few people and even get a dance in before Oliver made his way over to them. Tommy was whispering jokes in Felicity’s ear about a couple that had just passed them when Oliver walked over. Felicity’s laugh was cut off once she noticed him.   
“This is a surprise” he exclaimed, looking partially amused.   
“Perfect timing my man, can you believe Max Fuller is here, was just explaining to Felicity why he hates you so much.”  
Oliver took a long look at Felicity and then smiled “happy you could make it” he said before grabbing Tommy by the arm “I need to borrow him for a moment”. The conversation appeared to be somewhat heated though Felicity could not hear what they were saying, she watched for a moment before turning and making her way to the dessert table. A few moments later Laurel Lance walked over. “You’re Felicity right, I saw you a few weeks ago at Quiver, you’re dating Tommy?”  
Laurel’s tone was somewhat hostile but Felicity figured she was just being overly sensitive.   
“At least tonight I am”  
“They are a lot alike, not so easy to settle down”  
“I guess it is a good thing I am just using Tommy to have a good time then” Laurel laughed and some of the tension seemed to leave the conversation.   
“Yeah I guess that is for the best”  
The two women were laughing together by the time Oliver and Tommy made their way back over to them. Felicity had managed to down another glass of champagne and was really feeling its affects now. “Dance with me” she said reaching for Tommy’s hand.  
“Of course”  
“See Oliver, it’s not that hard” the words were out her mouth before she could stop them. The smile that had been on Laurel’s face disappeared and Felicity immediately felt bad. Passive aggressive was not a good look on her. The rest of the evening went on without a hitch. The four stayed together for much of the night laughing and drinking. Felicity thought by the end she was could really be good friends with Laurel which was somewhat of a surprise. Laurel thought it would be a good idea to drive down to the coast, it was not that cold for a winter night and no one was quite ready to call it quits and so the plans were made. Tommy went to help the valet maneuver his car out of the crowded parking lot as Felicity waited in front of the home. It was taking longer than she had expected so she decided to walk around the grounds, she had never been in a mansion before let alone Queen mansion, which was about the most incredible property in Star City. 

Felicity had not been walking for too long before she heard someone approaching. She turned expecting to see Tommy when instead she was greeted by the man she had bumped into earlier at the party. She had not really spent much time taking him in before, though she had seen him around the office a few times, he worked in applied sciences, but they had never had any contact. “You startled me” she said forcing a smile.   
“I’ve decided I like you better in the glasses” he said in a low voice. In that moment Felicity realized why she had felt so uneasy before, she heard his voice before, once on her birthday. Before she could scream he grabbed her.


End file.
